Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-11-03
THE HOTEL REGISTER.


How Some Of the Moro Distinguished Hotel
Guests Sign Their Names.
A tall. fine-looking man stepped up
to the desk in the Office of one OF the
leading New York hotels. relinquished
his grasp on a small valise as . porter
sseized lie handle. picked up..a pen.
turned tho register around. and wrote
his name. He turned the register back
just as the clerk stepped forward and
greeted the latter with pleasant
Good evening"" and shake OF the
hand. He chatted a moment with the
clerk and then went directly to his
room. The name on the register book
was Frank Hiscock. Syracuse" The
clerk turned to me and said: There is
a great difference in the way people
act at a hotel desk. You saw how
quiet and pleasant Senator Hiscock
was just now. He made no objections
to the room assigned. but took it for
granted that l would do the best l
could for him. He wants good room,
and he knows that l understand that.
He gets what he wants, and he is will
ing to pay for it One of the oldest
quests ever knew was Jere Black. /
suppose he was great man. but he
never seemed to know it. He would
walk up to the office in a diffident
manner. and if anybody else was there
he would step back to wait for others
to register and move away from the
desk while waiting; one Of the SER
wants would relieve him Of his valise.
and then he would forget that there
was any thing else to be done, and
would walk up and down abstractedly.
taking frequent pinches from his silver
snuff box. He would be utterly OBJ
livious of the fact that the clerk was
waiting with the register opened and
pen in hand. In one of his turns
he would notice the clerk, and with a
start he would step forward and hasti-
ly sign his name. never adding his
place of residence or where he hailed
from.
General E. A. Warner, the silver
dollar Congressman from Ohio, is just
the opposite in manner. He marches
DIP to the desk with the precision of a
grenadier. grasps the pen firmly, and
dashes off his signature as though he
were ordering an army. He wants a
room right away, and is always in a
hurry to get dinner. He never knows
how long he is going to stay.
''Phil Sheridan never registers at all.
He walks up to the desk, greets the
clerk in friendly manner, and begins
to chat with somebody, leaving his aid
de-camp to attend to the formalities of
registering and selecting rooms. He is
a sociable man, and never stays long in
in his room, but walks around a great
deal in the corridor.
''Ben Butler never registers, either.
He engages his room in advance and
comes in through the side door, going
directly to his room. He is rarely seen
in the corridor. Blaine and Conkling
come to the hotel the same way. There
is so much curiosity to see these men
that it would be annoying to them to
be surrounded by crowds in the cOrri-
dor. MIR. Blaine. however, is very So
ciable with the people in the office. and
often drops in to talk with them. MIR.
Conkling never unbends in that way.
He is naughty and reserved.
Governor Hill used to come to the
desk in quiet manner and sign his
name in a very small hand. He is
without affectation of any kind-just
plain, everyday gentleman, without
peculiarities. He does not come to the
Office now on account of the crowds
usually awaiting him.
edwin Booth is a quiet, unassum.
ing man. too. He walks up to the desk
and waits patiently for the clerk to
place the register before him. If he
knows the clerk. he bows and ex-
changes salutations pleasantly, writes
his name plainly. and goes to his room
without appearing to be conscious that
he is attracting any attention. There
are actors who pose before the desk
and talk loudly, but he is not of that
kind.
General Sherman is very sOciable
in his own peculiar way. When he
comes here he marches up to the desk.
says 'How'de do. and shakes hands
first. Then he sings the register
around sidewise to give his long arm
plenty of room, and writes his name
with a strong. sweeping movement.
When he was in active service he put
the General after his name, but now it
is simply w. I. Sherman. He is one
of the plainest, most democratic men
in the world, and for all his apparent
gruffness he is very kindly and thought
full. He was on the balcony of the no.
tel one evening when some public man
was making speech to a crowd in the
street below. The balcony was crowd
ed. and a reporter up there was having
a hard time taking notes with peO-
pie jostling and crushing him. The
General happened to notice the re-
porters uncomfortable position. Step
ping in front of the newspaper man he
tnrned his back to him, bent his broad
shoulders forward and said: Here,
make table of my back The re-
L. l. Al